1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an extended side mirror of a vehicle for accommodating trailer towing and, more particularly, to an interchangeable mirror scalp connectable to an existing vehicle side mirror that provide a trailer towing mirror while maintaining an aesthetically mirror appearance.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Vehicle side mirrors are typically provided on both sides of a motor vehicle that extend away form the side of the vehicle to give a vehicle operator right and left side rear views for lane changing and the like. Many different styles and designs exist in the art for such side mirrors. One particular design, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,785, issued Jun. 26, 2001, entitled xe2x80x9cExterior Rear View Mirror Integral Warning Lightxe2x80x9d, incorporated herein by reference, and assigned to the Assignee of this application. In that application, aesthetically contoured side mirrors are disclosed that include a mirror scalp removably attached to a forward portion of the side mirrors that include an auxiliary lane change indicator light connected thereto. The indicator light is connected to an extended edge of the mirror, to be readily visible to other vehicles.
The extended indicator light is integrated into a removable decorative covering which is secured to the mirror housing. A pigtail is provided for connecting the light to a wiring harness within the mirror housing. The indicator light is positioned on the outer surface of the vehicle""s exterior side mirrors in such a manner so as to be visible throughout an arc extending about 90 degrees rearwardly from a line extending generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. In this manner, maximum visibility of the auxiliary indicator light is provided to other vehicles coming along side the vehicle, while still preventing the emitted light from being visible to the vehicle operator or oncoming traffic.
Certain vehicles are equipped with tow bars and the like to tow trailers, campers, boats, mobile homes, etc. Sometimes these towed vehicles are so wide that the existing side view mirrors on the vehicle do not extend out far enough to allow the vehicle operator to see around the towed vehicle. Therefore, it is heretofore been known in the art to equip the towing vehicle with auxiliary side mirrors that extend far enough from the sides of the vehicle to allow the vehicle operator to adequately see around the vehicle being towed. Typically, these auxiliary extended mirrors are after-market products that are bolted or attached to the side of the vehicle, and affect the appearance and aerodynamics of the vehicle.
What is needed is a more aesthetically pleasing trailer towing side mirror that can be attached to existing mirrors for trailer towing purposes. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide such a mirror.
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a vehicle side mirror is disclosed that includes a forward scalp portion selectively removable from a forward side of the mirror housing. The scalp portion can be replaced with an extended auxiliary towing mirror scalp that conforms with the housing of the side mirror, and provides an extended auxiliary mirror attached thereto that is suitable for providing extended side viewing for towing purposes. In one particular embodiment, the towing scalp is interchangeable with an auxiliary turn signal light scalp to allow the towing vehicle to be readily converted to a suitable towing situation. In alternate embodiments, a towing mirror assembly is slidably extendable from an end of the side mirror, or is a towing mirror assembly pivotally extendable from a bottom surface of the side mirror.
In another embodiment, a spotter scalp is interchangeable with an auxiliary turn signal scalp to allow for towing and extended viewing from one side mirror. The spotter scalp incorporates the warning signal, thereby allowing the spotter scalp to be fully operable. In alternate embodiments, the spotter/signal scalp assembly has the signal display directly on the spotter glass, or the signal is incorporated on the scalp adjacent to the spotter glass. An additional embodiment of the spotter glass is the incorporation of a spotter mirror on the inboard portion of the main viewing glass.